Christmas Story
by TumblingTroublesomeTumbleweeds
Summary: She's trapped at a Christmas party, he shows up. Strangers meet the night before Christmas and fall in love...in this case, literally. He never got her name. OC involved
1. Her POV

She leaned back her chair and sighed in irritation holding her hand out to catch the lights on the tree. It was the day before Christmas and Kushira Harribel was not having fun. Her sisters, Tier and Akikiyo had dragged her to a Christmas party. She sighed again and her chair hit the floor lightly. She stood up and wandered over to the refreshments.

Kushira picked up a Santa cookie and glared at it as though it had done her a great personal wrong. Her green gaze panned the floor searching for her sisters. The three sisters looked fairly similar. Kushira was tall and had a Mediterranean complexion with a twist: mocha colored skin, dark red hair and green eyes, her sister Tier was smaller with darker skin and blonde hair and the baby of the family, Akikiyo had blonde hair and the lightest skin of the three.

She caught sight of Akikiyo dancing with her boyfriend and Tier surrounded by her friends both having a good time. She sighed; as long as her sisters were having fun she'd deal with it. She was munching on her Santa cookie watching the interactions of the crowd. More than a few people came up to talk to her and despite seemingly being antisocial she put on a charismatic and amiable face making her instantly popular among the crowd.

She made conversation when the door opened and two gentlemen stepped in. The room immediately hushed at the elegant men. The taller of the two had long brown hair pulled into a low ponytail and warm brown eyes; the other was slenderer with white hair that fell to his waist.

The girls in the room uttered a collective sigh and Kushira snorted at the ridiculousness of the situation, turning back to the cookies. She selected a reindeer cookie this time and watched with amusement as the girls in the room tried to capture the attention of the two newcomers.

The dark-haired man was enjoying the attention and Kushira had him pegged as a skirt-chaser but it was quite clear the white-haired man was only trying to be polite. She shook her head as her sisters joined the growing crowd of women. She finished her cookie and glanced at the platter again.

She was debating the wisdom of getting another cookie. She glanced down at her body and sighed, she was wearing a fairly tight spaghetti-strap sparkling red dress that fell to her knees and the cookies were definitely going to go to her hips. Kushira bit her lip thoughtfully and decided on cookies over body _diet is only 'die' with a T on the end _she mused studying her cookie.

She was munching her third cookie, a Christmas tree this time, and decided to get something to drink. As she made her way to the punch bowl cursing her shoes, she had the unfortunate luck of tripping on the cord for the Christmas tree.

Kushira gave a startled yell as she fell forward and landed rather hard on a child-size, wooden decorative table which broke. All the breath rushed out of her and she lay on the ground trying to catch it "miss, are you okay?" she looked up and blinked at a pair of worried green eyes. Kushira nodded, unable to talk. She pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around; the man with white hair was kneeling next to her.

"I guess I shouldn't have had that third cookie" she said dryly looking at the splintered wood. The man looked startled but burst into laughter "I highly doubt that was the reason" he said with a smile "but I'm glad you're alright" Kushira grinned crookedly "no worries…I've done worse believe me" she tried to stand up but the dress and the shoes only made it difficult.

The man took her arm and helped her up, a tingle went through her arm where his hand was "thank you" she brushed herself off "Shira!" she looked up to see Akikiyo flying through the crowd followed closely by Tier "are you alright?" she asked worriedly. Kushira smiled for the benefit of her sisters despite the pain in her ankle "I'm just fine" she said airily "you know me…always testing gravity"

Her sisters looked relieved and the onlookers smiled, the crowd dispersing. The man looked like he was about to say something but his friend called him away. Kushira glared at the crushed Christmas tree cookie on the ground "this is your fault" she said picking up the crumbs and limping over to a trash can.

She returned to her seat and watched the festivities. Women continued to vie for attention from the two men. The one with white hair kept glancing at the table in the corner where the young woman wearing an elegant red dress and red lipstick sat, green eyes watching the scene.


	2. His POV

Jushiro Ukitake was entranced by the young woman with smooth mocha-colored skin and laughing green eyes. She looked no older than 25 tall, slender and wearing a stylish sequined red dress which offset her dark skin. She completed it with red lipstick of the same shade and the overall affect was eye-catching. Apparently the other young men thought so too.

"Juu" Shunsui Kyoraku nudged his best friend "what's got you so fascinated?" his brown eyes followed Jushiro's gaze and he opened his mouth in a silent 'O'. He looked amused "she's gorgeous…ask her to dance" he nudged his white-haired friend again. Jushiro looked shocked "no…I'm okay" he smiled and the women sighed.

Shunsui shook his head dryly "Juu…all these women are competing for your attention the least you could do is ask one of them to dance if you won't ask her" Jushiro sighed "I suppose" he glanced at the woman again before turning to a pretty and petite blonde in a pink dress with heavy make-up "may I have this dance?" he asked and she blushed "of course you can" she purred as he led her on the floor.

The blonde was chattering away at him but he was only half listening. His thoughts were on the woman in the red dress. A young girl with blonde hair and darker skin wearing a pretty blue dress sat down next to her. The young woman smiled warmly at the younger girl. The smile quickly faded and her eyes darkened and her gaze went to a handsome young man with blonde hair. She pulled the younger girl into a hug and gently wiped the girl's eyes.

The song ended and he bid the young blonde farewell saying she was a captivating young woman before disappearing into the crowd. He approached the Christmas tree and heard the conversation "I don't know what I did wrong" one of them sniffled "you did nothing wrong" a cool voice spoke up "if he is going to dump you for some bimbo wearing less than a Neanderthal than that's his loss" he glanced at them.

The blonde had tears in her eyes but she laughed at the lady in red's description "I suppose…but who will dance with me?" the lady in red spoke "there are lots of handsome young men here looking for someone to dance with…I'm positive someone will ask" "really?" she nodded "positive…now cheer up and fix your make-up…no use crying over idiots with more brawn than brain" she was brisk and the blonde looked comforted leaving to the bathroom.

The lady in red sighed as soon as the blonde was out of earshot "I knew this would happen" she said to no one in particular before standing up "excuse me?" she flagged down a young man with wavy dark hair "my sister just dealt with her boyfriend breaking up with her and now she's worried no one will dance with her…do you think you could when she returns?" the man looked regretful "sorry ma'am…my girlfriend won't be too happy" she sighed "that's alright, I completely understand"

"I couldn't help but overhear your problem" Jushiro stepped out and she turned in surprise "I'll dance with her if it will help cheer her up" the lady in red looked both relieved and grateful "would you?" she asked "that would mean so much to her. She's only 17 and her boyfriend of like 3 months broke up with her for another girl and she's devastated" Jushiro smiled "don't worry" he said.

The lady in red smiled crookedly "I knew when you laughed at my cookie comment you were a good man" he laughed again "thank you" he said with a grin. The lady in red looked up "here she comes…again…thank you" she hurried back to her table.

Jushiro intercepted the young girl who looked absolutely delighted as he whirled her around the floor, he was charming and complimentary and did everything he could to make her feel happy again. When the song ended he bowed and kissed her hand. She blushed and looked at her sister who smiled encouragingly.

Apparently her dance with him had broken the ice because another young man asked for her hand and Jushiro backed away. He glanced at the lady in red who smiled "thank you" she mouthed and he went over to her.

His heart was racing and he felt nervous as her cool green eyes watched him expectantly "would you like to dance?" he asked and she widened her eyes "me?" he nodded and smiled "yes you…who else is here?" she blinked and grinned "well Rudolph might be insulted" she gestured to a light up reindeer about a foot away.

Jushiro shook his head in amusement "he's not really my type" he turned his gaze back to the lady in red "may I please have this dance?" she smiled "I suppose so…you helped my sister" she gave him her hand and he led her on the floor. The clock chimed a quarter to eleven when they began.

He was so captivated by the way her red hair spun around her and the conversation drifted. They danced all night. When the party ended, they parted ways with a smile. Only when he and Shunsui were halfway to the apartment they shared did he realize he never got her name.


	3. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

Jushiro Ukitake was standing next to Shunsui Kyoraku at the initiation speech for the new and first Academy students ever. His gaze wandered and his heart sped up. Two rows in front of him, standing next to a short young woman with fair skin and brown hair was a tall, slender young woman with mocha colored skin and long red hair pulled into a ponytail. She felt him looking at her and turned around. Her green eyes widened and a familiar crooked smile graced her features. Once the speech was over he caught up to the lady in red and this time he made sure to get her name.

**A/N loosely based on Capital Lights song 'His Favorite Christmas Story' such a sweet song…sad song too. The end made me cry and I never cry. I really recommend you listen to it :) **


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